Spring seat and back for vehicles.



C. M. WEBB.

SPRING SEAT AND BACK FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30. 1915.

l 1 K589. Patented June 20, 1916.

I gvwemtoz CM- were?) r rro CHARLES M. WEBB, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SPRING SEAT AND BACK FOR FEHICLES.

Application filed October 30, 1915. Serial Ito. 58,939.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES M. WEBB,

a citizen of. the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles.

and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Seats and Backs for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to seats for automobiles, carriages, buggies, chairs, etc., and particularly to means for cushioning the action of the seat.

The general object of my invention is the provision of a seat and back both of which will yield vertically together and both of which will yield horizontally together. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in which the back and seat will yield horizontally together but each element will have a yielding movement independent, if necessary, of the other element.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a seat and a back pivotally connected to each other, and in this connection to provide means whereby the seat may be readily detached from its engagement with the back so as to permit the seat to be.

withdrawn from its position relative to the back.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accom= panying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a seat and back constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary section showing the manner of connecting the seat with'the back; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View of the clip connecting the seat with the back.

In the ordinary construction of seats and backs for automobiles, carriages, etc., the seat is made to yield vertically but the back does not, and on the other hand the back is adapted to yield horizontally but the seat does not. As a consequence, when the seat,

yields vertically the back of a seated person frictionally engages the back of the seat itself, and on the other hand when the back yields horizontally either the person slides creased above normal. In other words, there is a lack of coordination between the seat .and the back which makes it uncomfortable for the person sitting thereon. As previously stated, the main object of the invention is to do away with this discomfort and provide a construction in which the seat and back will yield as a unit to certain vehicle shocks and will yield independently to certain other shocks.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Figs. 1 and 2, 2 designates the bottom piece of a supporting frame and 3 the back piece thereof. may be constructed in any suitable manner and form the casing or frame of the seat and back. The seat' bottom is designated 4 and the seat back is designated 5. The seat bottom 4 is provided with the usual cushion 6 as is the back piece 5, this last named cushion being designated 7.

Attached to the seat or bottom 4 in any suitable manner are the oppositely disposed semi-elliptical springs 8. Each of these springs is upwardly bowed so that its extremities extend downward toward the frame piece 2. 'At their extremities the downwardly extending ends of the springs 8 are coiled and adapted to carry laterally extending rollers 9. These rollers 9 engage With channel iron tracks 10 which are mounted upon the piece 2, the lower flanges of the channel iron being inserted into-the These parts are rigid and piece 2 so as to be flush therewith, as illusseat the springs 8 .yvill be flexed and the rollers 9 will move along the tracks 10 in opposite directions. The same is true where shocks or jars cause the seat to be depressed. The springs 8 will be flattened and the rollers move outward away from, each other along the track and as'soon as the jar is relieved the springs will tend to contract and again raise the seat. The back 5 is also provided with a pair of semi-elliptical or outwardly bowed springs, designated 11. These springs at their ends are formed to support the rollers 12 which operate within the channel iron tracks 13 attached to the frame piece 3 in any suitable manner, When the back is submitted to pressure the springs will be flattened and the rollers will travel in opposite directions along the track and when this pressure is relieved the springs will contract and the rollers will travel toward each other.

.therein the pins and attach to the under side of the seat 4 the oppositely disposed pairs of resilient strips 16, the strips of each pair together forming a clip having oppositely disposed expansible jaws 17 adapted to embrace the pin or stud 15. The outer ends of these jaws are outwardly turned so that the clip may be readily inserted over the stud or pin. It is obvious now that the seat 4 may be pulled horizontally outward away from the back and that this will cause the disengagement of the seat from the back, but that under normal circumstances the resilience of the clips is sufficient to hold the lower end of the back pivotally connected to the seat and cause a unitary movement.

In order to support the seat back when the seat has been shifted forward out of engagement with the back, I preferably attach to the frame piece 3 the strip or web 18 of fabric, which extends downward and over the cushion 7 of the back 5 and is attached thereto in any suitable manner. Thus when the seat is withdrawn the back will be sup-- ported by this strip 18. I also preferably attach to the forward edge of the seat 4 the outwardly extending fabric strip 19 which may be attached to the frame piece 20 which extends transversely across the forward edge of the frame piece 2.

WVith the construction heretofore described it is obvious that both the back and the seat will be spring supported and fully cushioned against jars and shocks of all kinds, and further that the seat may yield to a certain degree independently of the back,

that the back may yield to a degree independently of the seat, but that a full vertical movement of the seaLwill -cause a vertical movement of the back, that a horizontal movement of the seat will cause a horizontal movement of the back, and that a horizontal movement of the back will cause a horizontal movement of the seat. Thus a person occupying the seat will move both with the back and the seat and friction upon the clothes will not result from any movement of-the seat and back.

While I have illustrated what I believe to be the best form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto as it is obvious that other forms might embody the principle of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Y der many like circumstances.

WVhile I have illustrated my invention as applied to the back of a seat and to the seat itself, it will be understood that the side of a seat might also be supported in the same manner so as to rise and fall with the seat proper but having lateral movement relative to the seat.

With my invention not only may the seat 4 be detached from the .back so as to permit the seat to be removed, but the back also may be lifted vertically or depressed to an extent which will disengage the rollers 12 from the tracks 13 and then the back may be lifted up and thus the box, casing or frame may be entirely uncovered so as to permit the removal of dust therefrom. It will also be seen that inasmuch as the lower end of the seat back is pivoted to the seat the seat back may. be caused to take an inclination conforming more closely'to the form of the person and yet there will be nothing to prevent the free movement of the back and seat, as previously described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: V

1. The combination with a vertically and horizontally yieldable seat, and springs elastically supporting the seat against downward movement, of a back movable vertically with the seat and movable in a horizontal plane, and resilient means yieldingly oo resisting said last named movement of the back.

2. The combination with. a vertically yieldable seat supported for movement in a horizontal plane, and springs elastically -1o5 supporting the seat against vertical movement, of a back operatively connected to the seat to move vertically and horizontally therewith, and resilient means yieldingly resisting the horizontal movement of the back. 110

3. The combination with a seat and resilient means supporting the seat against downward movement, and means permitting the seat to have movement in a horizontal plane, of a back hingedly connected at its lower 1 5 end to the seat and having unitary vertical movement therewith, and springs yieldingly supporting the upper end f the back against rearward movement.

4. The combination with a seat and 120 springs. yieldingly resisting the depression of the seat, of a back hinged at its lower end to the rear end of the seat, springs attached to the back and yieldingly resisting the movement of the back in a horizontal plane, 125 rollers carried by the springs, and fixed vertical members with which the rollers engage.

5. The combination with a seat and springs resisting the downward movement of the seat, of a back hinged to the seat at its lower end for movement with the seat, semielliptical springs attached to the back and extending rearward therefrom, the ends of the springs carrying laterally projecting members, and tracks fixedly disposed behind the back and with which said laterally projecting members engage.

6. The combination with a seat and springs yieldingly resisting the depression of the seat, of a back hinged at its lower end to the rear end of the seat, a plurality of vertically extending semi-elliptical springs attached to the back, the ends of the springs carrying laterally projecting members, and fixed vertically disposed channel irons with which said laterally extending members engage.

7. The combination with a seat and springs resisting the downward movement of the seat, of a back hinged to the seat at its rear end for movement therewith, semielliptical springsattached to the back and having ends extending rearwardly therefrom and in divergent relation to each other, laterally projecting rollers carried by the ends of the springs, and fixed channel irons disposed behind the back and with which said rollers engage.

8. The combination with aback and resilientmeans supporting the back, of a seat hinged at its rearend to the lower end of the back, springs attached to and projecting.

down from the seat and having laterally 'pro- -jecting members at the extremities of the springs, and fixed horizontally disposed tracks with which said laterally projecting members engage. Y

9. The combination with a vertically and horizontally movable back, and springs resisting the horizontal movement of the back, of a vertically and horizontally movable seat, springs resisting the downward movement of the seat, and a hinged connection between the rear end of the seat and the lower end of the back.

10. The combination with a seat and semielliptical springs, of outwardly and downwardly extending springs attached to the under side of the seat, laterally projecting members carried by said springs, horizontally disposed tracks fixedly mounted beneath the seat and with which said members engage, a back hingedly connected at its lower end to the rear end of the seat, springs attached to the back and extending outwardly and rearwardly therefrom, laterally projecting members carried by the ends of the springs, and vertically disposed tracks with which said tracks engage.

11. The combination with a seat movable in a vertical plane and a horizontal plane, and a back hingedly connected to the rear end of the seat and movable in a vertical plane, of springs resisting the horizontal sisting the vertical movement of the seat, of;

a horizontally andvertically movable back, springs resisting the horizontal movement of the back, a detachable hinge connection between the rear end of the seat and the.

lower end of the back, and a flexible web attached to the upper end of the back and adapted tosupport the upper end of the back when the seat is detached from the back.

, 14. The combination with a seat supporting frame comprising a vertical member and a horizontal member, of a seat extending over the horizontal member, semi-elliptical springs mounted upon the under side of the seat and having laterally projecting members at their lower ends, tracks mounted upon the horizontal member with which said laterally projecting members engage, a back detachably hinged at its lower end to the rear end of the seat and extending parallel to the vertical member of theframe, semielliptical springs mounted upon the back and having laterally projecting members, tracks mounted upon the vertical member of the frame with which said laterally projecting members engage, and a flexible web attached to the upper end of the vertical member of the frame and to theback, acting to support the back when the seat is detached therefrom and removed,

15. The combination with a seat and a back therefor, of pins mounted upon the back at the lower end thereof, and spring clips mounted upon the seat at the rear end thereof and adapted to be slipped over and detachably and pivotally engage said pins.

16. The combination with a seat, a back therefor, and a frame extending behind the back and beneath the seat, of means resiliently supporting the seatand back against the frame, and means for detachably hinging the rear end of the seat to the lower end of the back.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES M. WEBB.

Witnesses:

LESTER A. AsHwooD, HERBERT GRIFFITH. 

